The Temple Unleashed (Book 1) | Updated Weekly

Chapter 6~The Tiger and Snake

Charlie made his way down to where the temple was located. There were no parking lots so the tourists would park their cars on the side of the road, but there were barely any tourists for that matter. Charlie counted and only spotted a small group of five others. A high school student who wore a gray polo and khaki pants came up to him.

"Hey there, you want a tour inside the temple? It's free of cost." Charlie shrugged his assent.

"Great! My name is Oliver but is there anyone else here with you?" the student asked Charlie.

"Um no...the rest of my family is at the hotel."

"Ok then, would you mind waiting until some others arrive?" Charlie nodded and sat down on a nearby bench.

He had been sitting for only a few minutes when a group of four teens came up to him. Oliver hurriedly went over to greet them. Charlie took a double take before recognizing the four he saw in the hotel. The two girls and the two boys who created quite a scene in the lobby. The girl with blonde hair recognized him and gave him a small wave.

"Hi," he said to her, causing the rest of the group to turn around to face him. One of the boys glared at him.

"Who are you? Why are you talking to Beks?" he demanded. The girl, presumably Beks, elbowed him in the ribs.

"Never mind Asher. I believe we had a brief run-in in the hotel hall?" she smiled. Charlie nodded before introducing himself.

"This here is Kat," Beks said, indicating to the girl by her side.

"Katherine," the girl with dark hair snapped, glaring at him then looking pointedly at her friend. Charlie was taken aback for a second. When he first saw her, true her face was all red from crying but her eyes held a shine to it. The type of shine only a sweet-tempered kind of person would have. Looks can be deceiving, he sighed. The two other boys introduced themselves as Jordan and Asher.

"You twins?" Charlie asked. The boys looked annoyed as if they were always asked that...which in fact they were. Charlie took that as a no. Just then, the highschooler came up to them.

"Y'all ready for your tour?" he asked them. He led them down the narrow path to the entrance of the temple. Two pillars stood on either side of the entrance with two grails filled with live coals.

Kat sighed. She didn't mean to snap at Charlie, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy but the weight of her mom's probable death bore her down. She stole a glance at the boy. He had blonde hair and bright amber eyes. Around his neck, tied with a piece of string was a black shard of something. It seemed to call to her and she felt a sudden urge to yank it from around the boy's neck. But when she looked up, he had taken it off and put it in his pocket. She shook her head and hurried to join Beks in the front.

Charlie could feel Kat's gaze on him, more specially the relic around his neck. He felt uneasy and suddenly filled with anger. He found the gem, it was technically his since he didn't see the strange Dr. Damaris again. He glanced over at the girl to find her watching the obsidian jewel as it sparkled in the sunlight. He glared at her before pulling it off and placing it safely in his pocket.

Oliver led the small group up to the entrance which led into a main room. The floor was marble and white concrete walls filled with frescos decorated the room. 

Upon closer inspection, Kat realized the frescos did not display paintings of the ancient Greeks. Instead, they were filled with people from a whole different culture Kat couldn't define. The ladies were dressed in splendid cloths draped across their bodies giving them a modest, yet elegant and sophisticated air about them. The style was in the fashion of a toga but many fine layers of the cloth hung about their arms, and waist. Many of the ladies were depicted wearing crowns made of a fine metal that seemed to shine through the fresco. Most of the expressions on their faces were peaceful but a few of the women had a dangerous and cunning looks in their eyes. These women had outlined their eyes with dark kohl and wore a dark cloak.